A REEF AT RISK

FALL/WINTER 2012 | oceana.org
A REEF
AT RISK
Kate Walsh campaigns against
offshore drilling in Belize
PLUS
GREAT WHITE SHARKS IN JEOPARDY
ANCHOVY’S COMEBACK
VICTORIES IN CHILE AND SPAIN
Oceana is the largest international advocacy group working solely to
protect the world’s oceans. Oceana wins policy victories for the oceans
using science-based campaigns. Since 2001, we have protected over
1.2 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea turtles, sharks,
dolphins and other sea creatures. More than 500,000 members and
e-activists support Oceana. Global in scope, Oceana has offices in
North, South and Central America and Europe. To learn more, please
visit www.oceana.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. Kristian Parker, Chair
James Sandler, Vice Chair
Simon Sidamon-Eristoff,
Secretary  
Valarie Van Cleave,
Treasurer
Keith Addis, President
Herbert M. Bedolfe III 
Ted Danson
Sydney Davis
César Gaviria
María Eugenia Girón
Stephen P. McAllister
Michael Northrop
Dr. Daniel Pauly
Susan Rockefeller
Heather Stevens
Roger van Vliet
Sam Waterston
OCEANA
Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Sharpless
Executive Vice President
& General Counsel
James Simon
Senior Vice President,
North American Oceans
& Chief Scientist
Michael Hirshfield, Ph.D.
Vice President,
European Oceans and Seas
Xavier Pastor
Vice President, South American
Oceans & Antarctica
Alex Muñoz
Vice President, Belize
Audrey Matura-Shepherd
Vice President, Strategic
Marketing & Communications
Matthew Littlejohn
Vice President, Global
Development
Bettina Alonso
Deputy Vice President, U.S.
Campaigns
Jackie Savitz
Deputy Vice President, Pacific
Susan Murray
OCEAN COUNCIL
Susan Rockefeller, Chair
Julie Tauber McMahon, Vice Chair
Dr. Andrew Bevacqua
Carolyn Marks Blackwood
Keely and Pierce Brosnan
Deborah Buck
Barbara and Bertram Cohn
Ann Colley
Dan and Beth Cort
Andrew and Sydney Davis
Michael Dershowitz
Brenda Earl
Barbara Ettinger and Sven Huseby
Christina Falco and Michael Frumkin
Joanna and Brian Fisher
Kelsey Grammer
Lea Haratani
Julie Hill
Carey Hotchkis
Hardy Jones
J. Stephen and Angela Kilcullen
Robert and Arlene Kogod
Slane Holland Lightburne
Cynthia Lufkin
Willa and Ted Lutz
Dede McMahon
Tiffany Moller
Vanessa Noel
Aaron Peirsol
Nicole Polizois
Lois Robbins
Anne Alexander Rowley
Eve Kornyei Ruffatto
Andrew Sabin
Starr Scott
Jennifer Small and Adam Wolfensohn
Kelly T. Smith
Danielle Steakley
Sutton Stracke
Danielle Thomas
Susan Trees
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editorial Manager
Emily Fisher
Assistant Editor
Pete Brannen
Graphic Designer
Jenn Hueting
9
January Jones
swims again with
Oceana for a
new PSA.
6
White sharks are in peril
off the US west coast.
©OCEANA
David P. |Stephens
©
Tim Calver
FALL/WINTER 2012 contents
6 Jaws in Jeopardy
Oceana is campaigning to protect a
vulnerable population of great white
sharks off the U.S. West Coast.
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11
9
How Spain’s anchovy
stock came back
Features
Do you know what’s in your
Filet-O-Fish sandwich?
Departments
9Anchovy’s Return
The remarkable collapse and recovery
of anchovies in the Bay of Biscay.
1CEO’s Note
A new report offers bad news and good news for the world’s fisheries.
2Making Waves
The latest campaign victories from Oceana’s international team.
11 Profile: Alaska Pollock
A friendly introduction to one of the
world’s most popular seafood species.
4News & Notes
The 2012 Ocean Heroes, Kate Walsh visits Belize and more.
5 Q & A
Author Callum Roberts discusses his new book, “The Ocean of Life.”
13What are Forage Fish?
Oceana board member Dr. Daniel
Pauly answers the question: What are
forage fish and why do they matter?
On the Cover
Actress Kate
Walsh swims with
a ray in Belize.
14 Events
SeaChange Summer Party, GQ Gentlemen’s Ball and more.
17 Supporter Spotlight
Tricia and Michael Berns on their commitment to ocean conservation.
18Chef’s Corner
British chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall with a recipe for quick-fried
mackerel.
19Parting Shot
Kate Walsh snorkels in Belize.
© Tony Rath
OCEANA.ORG
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deductible.
4 | FALL/WINTER 2012
Protecting the
World’s Oceans
CEO’STITLE
NOTE
New evidence that we can and must
bring our fisheries back from the brink.
The Association for the Advancement
of Science, known as the “triple A-S”
among the scientific cognoscenti, tracks,
as its name suggests, the advancing
frontier of knowledge. The most important
discoveries are culled for publication in its
journal, Science.
The current issue is on my desk beside
me today, and it includes an important
and sobering report. It used cutting edge
statistical analysis to look at fisheries with
limited data, mostly those in the developing
world. And it found that fisheries in the
developing world are largely in terrible shape.
The good news is that, as this report
confirms, fisheries that put in place
sensible management measures do come
back and become abundant once again.
This is important because these declining
fisheries are an essential source of food to
hundreds of millions of people.
Stopping the collapse of these fisheries
is what motivates us here at Oceana. We
do that by winning and enforcing national
policies that require scientifically sound
fishing quotas, protect nursery habitat, and
reduce bycatch (the accidental killing of
non-target species). This issue of Oceana
brings you more news of our progress on
all fronts.
Managing ocean fisheries better so
they can feed more people is the
most achievable global conservation
opportunity of our time. It’s also a food
security opportunity vital to the 1 billion
people already suffering from hunger and
malnutrition. And with human population
on track to reach 9 billion by 2050, this
food resource is essential to all of us.
Well-managed oceans can feed 700
million people a healthy seafood meal
every day in the year 2050.
And they can do so cost-effectively. Marine
fish are, on a per pound basis, the most
cost-effective animal protein on the planet.
Compare them to pork, cattle, poultry –
you name it – and wild ocean fish are, on
average, the most affordable animal protein.
That’s because terrestrial livestock is fed
vast amounts of grain, and those grain
fields need irrigation. A hungry world
demands animal protein, and if the oceans
collapse, livestock production will increase
even faster. Livestock production equal
to the wild fisheries of a well-managed
ocean would require 200 million acres of
grain fields – an area equal to half of all the
cultivated land in the United States, or an
area greater than Turkey, or an area nearly
three times the US area currently planted in
corn. New farm fields will inevitably require
more cutting of forests.
So if you’re contributing to Oceana, you’re
not only helping to save the world’s oceans
and to feed hundreds of millions of hungry
people. You’re also helping to save the
world’s forests.
Thank you!
In addition, a healthy ocean reduces the
cutting of forests and lessens demands for
fresh water.
Well-studied fisheries (mostly U.S. and Europe)
Average global fish stock trend
Fisheries in the developing world
Responsible fishing level
1.2
Andy Sharpless
CEO
Level of fishing exploitation
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
1979
1989
1999
2009
Year
Derived from “Status and Solutions for the World’s Unassessed Fisheres, Costello et al, Science, 27 September, 2012.
Oceana is grateful for the grants, contributions,
and support it has received from dozens of
foundations and companies and thousands of
individuals. Oceana wishes to thank all of its
supporters, especially its founding funders
as well as foundations and individuals that in
2011 awarded Oceana grants totaling at least
$500,000: Adessium Foundation, Arcadia
Fund, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation,
Oak Foundation, Oceans 5, Planet Heritage
Foundation, Robertson Foundation,
Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Sandler
Foundation of the Jewish Community
Endowment Fund.
OCEANA.ORG | 1
Making
TITLE Waves
Leatherback sea turtle
becomes California
state symbol
The California legislature and Governor Brown
designated the endangered Pacific leatherback sea
turtle as California’s official state marine reptile and
declared October 15 as the state’s annual Leatherback
Conservation Day.
Oceana was a key champion of the bill and won
statewide support from thousands of California citizens
and more than 30 conservation entities including
the California Fish and Game Commission. This new
symbol of the Golden State recognizes the importance
of California waters to the survival and recovery of
this endangered and ancient sea turtle species and
encourages further conservation efforts.
© Tim Calver
Spain’s Doñana
National Park saved
from oil drilling
The Spanish government put an end to a
proposed oil industry development that
would have threatened Doñana National
Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Plans to build an oil refinery in the Gulf
of Cádiz, not far from Doñana, would
have led to higher ship traffic in the area
and a higher risk of oil spills or accidents
during the tankers’ unloading operations,
threatening animals such as the avocet
and purple heron. Oceana is currently
working to create a Marine Protected
Area in this section of the Gulf of Cádiz,
which would be linked to the National
Park. Oceana identified the threats posed
by the construction of this oil refinery in
2005, and has been campaigning against
it with other groups.
‘Freezing the menu’ for forage fish
After campaigning by Oceana, the Pacific Fishery
Management Council finalized its decision to prohibit
the development of new fisheries for currently
unmanaged forage fish off the West Coast.
Forage fish are the ocean’s small fish
and invertebrates, such as lanternfish,
smelts, saury and small squids, which
serve as prey for larger animals,
including dolphins, whales, seabirds,
and fish species like salmon, tuna
and rockfish. They have immense
ecological and economic value, but
can only serve their role as prey when
they are left in the water.
2 | FALL/WINTER 2012
© OCEANA | Eduardo Sorensen
The decision to “freeze the menu”
builds on Oceana’s previous success
to prohibit a fishery on krill, and sets
up a process and timetable for interim
protective measures and a regulatory
process to implement a long-term
prohibition on new fisheries.
MAKING WAVES
TITLE
Victories for
sharks in Europe
F
or the first time in its 60-year history,
the General Fisheries Commission
for the Mediterranean took action for
shark protection. The Commission
adopted measures for the management
and conservation of sharks and rays
in the Mediterranean. Twenty-three
Mediterranean countries endorsed a
proposal from the European Union that
bans the unsustainable practice
of shark finning, prohibits trawling in
some sensitive near-shore habitats,
and requires countries to collect
and report data on catches of some
threatened species.
In another win for European sharks,
the EU also voted in favor of strictly
protecting 10 threatened species of
sharks and rays in the Mediterranean
Sea. These species, including
hammerheads, tope, and shortfin
mako, have declined dramatically in
numbers – some by as much as 99
percent during the last century –
while others have vanished from parts
of the Mediterranean where they were
once common. Oceana was the only
NGO pushing for this measure.
Finally, the Fisheries Committee of
the European Parliament voted to
support a strict ban on shark finning
both in European Union waters and on
EU ships worldwide. The new policy,
which must be approved by the rest
of Parliament, would close loopholes
in the EU’s existing shark finning
policy, which allowed some vessels
to remove fins at sea.
© OCEANA | LX
Illinois bans shark fin trade
Illinois became the first inland
state to ban the trade of shark
fins, following similar bans
passed by California, Oregon,
Washington and Hawaii in the
growing national movement to
protect sharks.
Although Illinois is far from the ocean, it
imports large amounts of shark fins that
are used in the Asian delicacy, shark fin
soup. This market demand for fins creates
an incentive for the continued practice
of shark finning, where a shark’s fins are
sliced off at sea and the body is thrown
overboard while the shark is often still
alive. Tens of millions of sharks are killed
each year for their fins, contributing
to population declines as large as 99
percent in recent decades.
While shark finning is illegal in the United
States, there are few federal laws that
address the trade of shark fins. In fact,
many shark fins are imported into the U.S.
from countries with few or even no shark
protections in place.
Coal-fired power
plant defeated in
northern Chile
A planned coal-fired
thermoelectric power plant
known as Castilla in
northern Chile was rejected
by the Chilean Supreme
Court, a victory for Oceana
and its allies.
Coal-powered thermoelectric
power plants are
notoriously dangerous
to the environment. This
plant was planned for the
Punta Cachos area off of
Chile’s northern coast, just
a few miles from important
habitats for Humboldt
penguins and sea turtles.
As part of its operations,
the plant would have
released warm water into
the ocean, which would
have negatively affected the
entire ecosystem.
Despite initial approval by
the local environmental
commission, the plant
was opposed by the local
community and various other
organizations, including
Oceana. The community
fought against the plant and
won, getting its approval
revoked, but the company
appealed, bringing the case
to the Supreme Court, which
finally ruled against the
plant. Oceana continues
to campaign in Chile
against plants like Castilla,
which generate pollution
that threatens coastal
ecosystems, the safety of
the local air and water, as
well as the health of local
communities.
OCEANA.ORG | 3
news
TITLE & notes
1
3
On World Oceans
Day, June 8,
Actress and
Oceana supporter
Kate Walsh
(“Private Practice”)
traveled to Belize
to advocate
for Oceana’s
campaign to
prevent offshore
drilling in the
Thousands voted to crown Oceana’s 2012 Ocean
Central American
Heroes. This was the fourth consecutive year Oceana
nation. She
has held its celebration of everyday individuals making
snorkeled in some
of the country’s
a difference for the oceans. The 2012 Adult Ocean
most beloved
Hero is Captain Don Voss, the owner of the Marine
Cleanup Initiative Inc., an organization that cleans
marine places that
up Florida’s waterways. Over the last 11 years, the
are threatened
by proposed
company has removed over 300,000 pounds of marine
debris. The 2012 Junior Ocean Hero is 15-year-old
drilling, such as
James Hemphill, the president of Project Green
Lighthouse Reef
Teens, a student-run environmental group that promotes
Atoll, the Blue
conservation in Virginia Beach. The group has removed
Hole and the
more than a ton of trash from Virginia waterways. The
Hol Chan Marine
prizes for this year’s Ocean Heroes were generously
Reserve.
In August, Oceana was again a
conservation partner of Discovery’s
Shark Week. The 25th anniversary
of Shark Week featured several
conservation-oriented programs,
including a show titled “Great White
Highway” narrated by Oceana board
member Ted Danson.
provided by Nautica and Revo Sunglasses.
4
Oceana CEO Andy Sharpless is
writing a book, forthcoming from
Rodale next spring. The book,
tentatively titled “The Perfect
Protein: A fish-lover’s guide to
saving the oceans and feeding
the world,” reveals a major,
overlooked answer to growing global
food demand: wild seafood.
4 | FALL/WINTER 2012
5
O
ceana released a new report, “Ocean-Based Food Security
Threatened in a High CO2 World,” which ranks nations that
are most vulnerable to reductions in seafood production
as a result of climate change and ocean acidification. While seafood
is currently a primary source of protein for more than a billion of the
poorest people in the world, carbon dioxide emissions are causing
the oceans to warm and become more acidic, threatening fisheries
and the people who depend on them. Rising ocean temperatures are
pushing many fish species into deeper and colder waters towards
the poles and away from the tropics, while increased acidity is
threatening important habitats such as coral reefs and the future of
shellfish like oysters, clams and mussels.
Q&A
Callum
Roberts
is a professor of marine
conservation at the
University of York in
England and author of the
2007 book “The Unnatural
History of the Sea.” His
second book, “The Ocean
of Life,” was published
this spring. Oceana asked
Roberts about the new
book and why we need a
“New Deal” for the oceans.
How does “The Ocean of Life” differ
from your first book, “The Unnatural
History of the Sea?”
“The Unnatural History of the Sea” is about
how 1,000 years of hunting and fishing
have changed the oceans. It is a voyage
through time and around the world in
which I let eye witnesses tell their stories
of discovery, plunder, glory and heartbreak,
and in doing so let us see the oceans in a
new light, as if for the first time. “The Ocean
of Life” is painted on a bigger canvas. In it
I go back to the very beginning in an effort
to answer questions like, where did the
oceans come from, what were they like
before the Cambrian explosion of larger life,
who were the first seafood lovers and where
did they live? Although I cover the long
history of fishing, it is by way of prelude to an
exploration of the many other ways in which
we are changing the oceans. Almost without
noticing it and within my lifetime, humanity
has gained dominion over the sea.
What’s the most surprising thing
you learned about the oceans while
researching and writing “The Ocean
of Life?”
Probably the most startling and troubling
thing I learned, when I drew together the
many intertwining strands of our influence, is
that the oceans are changing faster today
and in more ways than in all of human history.
In fact, we may have to go all the way back
to the planetary cataclysm that ended the
reign of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago to
find a more rapid transformation of the sea.
Considering all the threats facing the
oceans that you outline in the book,
which do you think most urgently
needs to be addressed?
Of course, we are the root cause of all the
problems the oceans face and it is ourselves
we must change. The astonishing increase in
global population coupled with our ingenuity
in devising ever more elaborate ways to live
in material comfort make it inevitable that
we will continue to exert a huge influence
on the planet. So we have to find ways
to live within our means and transition to
renewable energy. Assuming we do this to
save ourselves, conditions will get better
eventually for life in the sea; the problem is,
they are going to get worse first.
So what can we do to help life through the
hard times ahead? That is where I think we
need a “New Deal” for the oceans which
would jointly target overfishing and pollution
to rebuild life in the sea.
The oceans are
changing faster
today and in more
ways than in all of
human history.
Can you summarize this “New Deal” for
Oceana readers?
Throughout vast swathes of the seas we
have brought life to its knees. We have
reduced once rich and vibrant
ecosystems that thronged with
giant fish and mammals to places
where not much at all lives now.
Marine life, as Charles Dickens
might have put it, is suffering
reduced circumstances. So the
centerpiece of this “New Deal”
is to increase the abundance
of life once again, to bring back
the megafauna and to recover
complex biogenic habitats. In a
nutshell, to do this we need to
fish less using less destructive, more
selective methods, waste less, pollute
less and protect more. That protection
would mean expanding the global network
of no-take marine reserves to about 30
percent of the oceans.
What do you hope readers take away
from your book? Who do you hope is
reading it?
That what is happening to the sea demands
our urgent and undivided attention. Because
the oceans make up over 95 percent
of the volume of the biosphere they are
overwhelmingly important to keeping our
planet habitable. We ignore this fact at our
peril. Since we all have a part to play in
looking after the world, I hope the book finds
readers from high school students all the way
up to politicians, philanthropists and captains
of industry. I wrote it for everyone.
OCEANA.ORG | 5
By Rachael Prokop
Imagine for a moment if the
movie “Jaws” were re-made,
but instead of playing the
man-eating villains, sharks
were the victims. Massive
fishing nets would entangle
and drown young sharks,
while humans frolicked,
carefree, on the beach.
The peak seasons for California halibut,
white seabass, and swordfish, all targeted
by gillnets, coincide with the season that
young great white sharks congregate in
these waters. Every year, on average over
10 great white shark pups are reported to
be accidentally caught in these nets, and
more, scientists believe, are unreported.
That may not sound like a large number,
but recent studies estimate there are only
a few hundred adult great white sharks
That movie could be made now, but it would
left in the West Coast population, which
be a documentary. Off the West Coast of the
is genetically distinct and geographically
United States and Baja California, Mexico,
isolated from other white shark populations
the famed small population of great white
worldwide.
sharks is facing the specter of extinction, and
Oceana is fighting to save them.
Like humans, great white sharks mature
slowly and have long pregnancies. A
6 | FALL/WINTER 2012
The villain in our story is the gillnet, a “curtain
female great white pup will not be ready
of death” hundreds of yards long that poses
to breed until she’s about 12-14 years old,
the single greatest threat to the future of
and once she does, she’ll only be able to
these sharks. Gillnets are indiscriminate—
give birth every other year at best. With
they catch the fish they are intended for,
such a slow reproductive rate, it’s hard
and anything else swimming by. The region’s
for the population to replace pups lost to
main gillnet fisheries are off southern
gillnets. And each pup that doesn’t make it
California, waters that also happen to be a
to adulthood means there will be one less
nursery for great whites.
shark in the next generation’s mating pool.
© Jim Agronick
A small population of great white sharks is
facing the specter of extinction, and Oceana
is fighting to save them.
OCEANA.ORG | 7
As top predators, great whites keep
the ocean food web in balance, just AS
wolves and mountain lions keep deer
populations in check.
Despite their dangerously low numbers,
these animals are not currently protected
under the Endangered Species Act. They
should be. Such a listing could change
their future and help propel them out of
the path to extinction.
Along with the Center for Biological
Diversity and Shark Stewards, Oceana
petitioned both the federal government
and the state of California to have the
West Coast great white shark population
protected as an endangered species.
As a geographically isolated, geneticallydistinct population whose numbers are so
© Jim Agronick
alarmingly low, these sharks fit the criteria
of an endangered species.
for the Pacific. “An endangered species
In response to the petition, the National
listing of these powerful apex predators will
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
provide a protective safety net, giving us
determined that the population merits
more time to better understand the status
further consideration for listing as an
of this unique population.”
“endangered” or “threatened” species.
Over the next nine months, NMFS will
Great white sharks play an important
conduct an in-depth status analysis of
role in ocean health. As top predators,
the population and determine whether
great whites keep the ocean food web
to add this population to the federal
in balance, just as wolves and mountain
endangered list.
lions keep deer populations in check. By
hunting predatory marine mammals like
If these great whites are added to the
seals and sea lions, sharks help keep fish
Endangered Species List, they would be
populations healthy, which provide food for
granted greater protections from gillnets
many species, including humans.
and other human threats. These protections
could include transitioning these fisheries
A lot is unknown about great whites—
to more responsible fishing methods,
from their mating habits to the reasons
increasing observer coverage to ensure
behind their long migration patterns.
that we know how many sharks are being
Official recognition as an endangered
caught, setting hard limits on the amount
species would bring more funding towards
of white sharks that can be caught as
conservation research, giving us the tools
bycatch, or creating protected areas for
to learn more and, in turn, better protect
the sharks.
them before it is too late.
“Great white sharks off the U.S. West
Without increased protections, the West
Coast are in a perilous situation,” said
Coast’s great white sharks could disappear
Susan Murray, Oceana’s senior director
forever, a fate that we simply can’t allow.
8 | FALL/WINTER 2012
Anchovies and sardines are unloaded from a purse seiner in the port of Ayvalik, Turkey.
By Peter Brannen
D
uring the Roman Empire,
sauces conjured from the
humble anchovy dressed
the plates of emperors. On
Spanish street corners, whether served
fresh, boqueron, or as salted anchoas,
the anchovy has been a stable of Iberian
cuisine for centuries.
Then, a decade ago, after years of
irresponsible fishing, the anchovy stock
collapsed in Spain’s Bay of Biscay.
The crash was the perfect storm: a
fishery that naturally suffers wide
swings in population numbers from
year to year and a fishing fleet that was
determined to exploit it according to its
own numbers.
Anchovies are a short-lived species,
typically living three to four years, while
most of the fish that are caught are only
one year old. The health of the stock
in any given year, therefore, is heavily
dependent on the spawning success
of the previous year, which in turn is
affected by a number of environmental
and oceanographic factors. This is a
species that needs to be especially
well-monitored and managed to ensure
that a bad spawning season is not
compounded by unsustainable catch
levels from the fleet of Spanish and
French purse seiners and trawlers that
pull giant shoals of the schooling fish
out of the Atlantic by the millions.
That’s exactly what happened nearly
a decade ago, says Oceana Europe
marine scientist Javier Lopez.
“The total allowable catch (TAC) of the
anchovy was set independently of the
state of the stock, so scientific advice
was ignored and only the opinion of the
fishing sector was predominant,” he
said. “Normally this kind of short-lived
species suffers some variation so for
several years maybe the TAC was right
but for many others the TAC was wrong.
It was really, really wrong.”
In the early 2000s, after years in
decline, the anchovy stock in the
Bay of Biscay plummeted. From the
stock’s previous high catch of almost
90,000 tons, the catch dropped to just
under 10,000 tons in 2003. Thanks to
pressure from Oceana, the European
Union closed the fishery in the Bay of
Biscay for four years starting in 2005—
and the anchovies slowly returned.
When the population exploded in
2009 the fishery was reopened. But
In the early 2000s,
after years in decline,
the anchovy stock
in the Bay of Biscay
plummeted.
OCEANA.ORG | 9
Anchovy biomass evolution in Bay of Biscay
Anchovy biomass
Overfishing threshold
120
Spawning stock biomass x1000t
100
FISHERY CLOSURES 2005 - 2009
80
60
40
20
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
Year
even after four years of closure, catch
levels were once again set above the
scientific recommendations for the
species thanks to pressure from the
fishing industry.
“It made no sense,” said Lopez.
In the years since, however, the EU has
taken the lessons of the last decade to
heart. After a 2011 season that saw the
highest abundance in anchovy stock
since studies of the population began
in 1987, the governing body of the EU
lauded the new scientific approach.
“This is a good example that
sustainable fisheries management,
based on a long-term approach and
with involvement of the industry pays
off,” the European Commission said.
Over the past two years the total
allowable catch limit of anchovies in
the Bay of Biscay has been in line
with scientific recommendations for
10 | FALL/WINTER 2012
the first time in nearly two decades of
management.
“The EU is acting responsibly,” said
Lopez. “They’ve realized that they have
to do it this way if they don’t want the
fisheries to be depleted. We are really
blessed with this new situation.”
But Oceana isn’t finished. As the EU
puts together a management plan
for the fish going forward, Oceana is
pushing to have sensible measures put
in place to prevent another disaster.
One obvious solution would be to have
catch limits tied to the total percentage
of anchovy biomass in a given year,
rather than set at a predetermined and
arbitrary figure.
“That makes sense,” said Lopez. “If you
have more biomass you can catch more
fish. It’s logical.”
Oceana is also fighting against a
proposal to set a minimum yearly
catch limit of 7,000 tons, regardless
of the health of the stock, as well as a
proposal to limit the amount that the
catch could be reduced from year to
year, again, regardless of scientific
recommendations.
As food lovers know, anchovies are an
umami powerhouse, conveyor of that
elusive fifth taste, giving Worcestershire
sauce and Caesar salad dressing their
tang and immeasurably enriching any
puttanesca sauce. For the Spanish the
anchovy is a national treasure. Whether
it remains to be so well into the future
depends largely on the cooperation of
governments, fishermen, scientists and
groups like Oceana.
“Oceana has been practically the one
and only NGO pushing for the recovery
of the anchovy,” said Lopez.
By Emily Fisher
When you consider that Alaska pollock is one of the most widely
consumed seafood species in the United States and the world,
it’s surprising how little the average person knows about this
cousin of cod. We thought an official introduction was in order.
Think fast: What is the fish you are most
likely to meet in your McDonald’s FiletO-Fish sandwich?
Tilapia? Wrong.
If you answered Alaska pollock, nice work.
The walleye pollock is a medium-sized
member of the cod family and gets its
name from the white circles around
its eyes. Pollock travel in enormous
schools. The juveniles feast on the
cold northern Pacific’s copepods and
krill, which are tiny
crustaceans.
The fish in frozen fish sticks or breaded
fish in your kid’s school lunches?
Probably Alaska pollock, too. And
that mysterious fake crab stick you
had in last night’s sushi? It’s surimi, a
fish paste made from Alaska pollock,
which is also molded into imitation crab,
lobster and shrimp.
Pollock is everywhere.
And humans aren’t the only ones that
enjoy the ubiquitous whitefish. Just
about everything that lives in the Bering
Sea eats pollock, including humpback
whales, beluga whales, puffins, Steller
sea lions, Northern fur seals, salmon,
halibut and some of the largest colonies
of nesting seabirds on earth.
OCEANA.ORG | 11
TITLE
The fish is fecund, producing up to two
million eggs each over a couple weeks’
spawning period.
“Without pollock, the Bering Sea
ecosystem would look a lot different.
Pollock are a central component of the
food web,” said Oceana scientist Jon
Warrenchuk, who has been keeping an
eye on the pollock fishery from Oceana’s
Juneau, Alaska office for years. Oceana is
working to ensure that the fishery leaves
enough pollock in the water for both
humans and the many animals that rely on it.
In addition to playing a central role in
the Bering Sea food web, pollock is the
target of the biggest fishery in the United
States and one of the biggest in the
world. The fishery is worth over a billion
dollars today, but prior to the invention of
the fish stick it was virtually unknown as a
food fish. Russian and Japanese trawlers
plied the Bering Sea until 1976, when
the Magnuson-Stevens Act required that
American companies alone harvest marine
resources within 200 nautical miles of the
coast. What began as a small fleet in the
1960s has exploded into a major industry
in Alaska that catches more than 1 to 2
billion pollock a year.
Unfortunately, several stocks of pollock in
Alaska were fished too heavily in the past,
leaving too few fish behind to replenish
those populations. In some cases the
stocks have made no signs of recovery.
Most of the world’s pollock supply now
comes from the remaining pollock stock in
the Eastern Bering Sea, which is currently
at about 30 percent of unfished levels.
While the pollock fishery is relatively clean
compared to some other U.S. fisheries,
because of the massive volume of pollock
fishing, large quantities of other fish and
marine life end up in the nets.
For example, the pollock fleet has caught
more than its share of the rare and valuable
Chinook salmon as bycatch. The fishery
caught more than 120,000 Chinook
salmon in 2007. After campaigning by
Oceana’s staff and allies, in 2008 the
12 | FALL/WINTER 2012
North Pacific Fishery Management Council
set a hard cap on Chinook bycatch at
60,000 salmon per year in the Bering Sea.
That means if the pollock fishery surpasses
that number, it will be shut down.
The pollock fishery has a reputation as one
of the best-managed fisheries in the world,
thanks to Alaska’s extensive infrastructure
for data collection, scientific assessment,
in-season monitoring and enforcement. All
this data means that the system can quickly
respond to changes in the water. For
example, in 2010, in the face of severely
declining pollock numbers, the pollock
catch limit was set at its lowest level in 32
years. Since then, the stock has increased
somewhat, but is still nearly 70 percent
below historic levels and well below its
long-term average.
Of the three basic principles of fishery
management – set scientifically-based
catch limits, reduce bycatch and protect
habitat – the pollock fishery is doing some
things right, but there is clearly room for
improvement. The fleet uses mid-water
trawling gear that’s supposed to avoid
making contact with the seafloor, but
the nets hit the bottom an estimated 44
percent of the time, which can damage
seafloor habitats. There are some
measures in place to reduce impacts on
marine mammals, but Steller sea lions and
Northern fur seals, which rely heavily on
pollock, are still endangered or declining.
So, with all of this in mind, how should
seafood consumers feel about eating pollock?
Assessing the sustainability of such a
large and complex fishery is no simple
undertaking. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s
Seafood Watch program has ranked
Alaska pollock as a “Good Alternative”, its
moderate “yellow” ranking – it’s not yet
overfished, but there is significant room
for improvement. Oceana will continue
to work with government agencies, local
communities, and fishermen to ensure that
this fish, which is so important for feeding
people and supporting a healthy Bering
Sea ocean ecosystem, is managed for a
sustainable future.
Alaska
Pollock
NICKNAMES
Alaska pollock, walleye pollock,
Theragra chalcogramma
PRODUCTS
McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, frozen
fish sticks, surimi, imitation crab
HONORS
By weight, nation’s largest fishery
and world’s second largest
Birthplace
The majority of the U.S. catch of
pollock comes from the Bering
Sea, though a small portion is
also caught in the Gulf of Alaska.
weight
From 1977-2011 the catch of
eastern Bering Sea pollock
averaged 1.17 million tons.
Net worth
The Alaska pollock fishery is one
of the most valuable in the world.
The 2010 pollock catch from the
Bering Sea was valued at more
than $282 million and products
made from pollock were valued
at $1 billion.
Fishing method
Trawlers tow large cone-shaped
nets the size of a football field for
miles to catch schools of pollock.
Daniel Pauly is a Professor
of Fisheries at the Fisheriesa
Centre of the University of
British Columbia, the Principal
Investigator of the Sea Around
Us Project, and a member of
the Board of Oceana.
What are Forage Fish?
To explain the importance
of forage fish, first we must
go back to the basics of
who eats whom, on land
versus in the ocean. On
land it is very easy. We
either eat plants, or animals
that have eaten plants, or a
mixture of the two.
animals in the ecosystem, for example,
And there are other benefits to eating forage
cod and tuna among fishes, sea lions
fish. Because they don’t live long, forage
and humpback whales among marine
fish do not accumulate as many pollutants
mammals, and sea birds such as pelicans
(such as dioxin) and heavy metal (such as
and gannets.
mercury) as fish higher in the food chain,
and they contain more omega 3-fatty acids,
Since forage fish have trophic levels
which originate from the phytoplankton.
usually around 3 (because they mainly
consume herbivorous zooplankton), the
People in many European countries, such
larger fish preying on them, such as cod
as Spain, Italy, France and Germany,
or tuna, have a trophic level of about 4,
consume forage fish including sardines, an-
and people whose diet consisted only of
chovies and herring, as do people in Africa
Re-expressed in term of trophic levels, i.e.,
such fish would have a trophic level of 5.
and Asia, where they are often a staple
steps in the food chain, this means that we
Accordingly, somebody who eats only tuna
food. In the U.S., people are no longer
have trophic level 1, which are plants. Then
sashimi would have a diet corresponding
familiar with fish such as sardines, though
we have trophic level 2, things that eat
on land to a diet of super-dragons, which
they were two generations ago, during the
plants, and level 3, animals that eat plant-
would themselves have been feeding on
heyday of the California sardine fishery of
eating animals (e.g., cows, eating grass).
dragons, which would have consumed
John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row fame.
So, for example, if you have a diet of 90
wolves, lions and other carnivores feed-
percent vegetable matter (fries, salads, the
ing on gazelles, caribou cattle and other
Forage fish need to be re-introduced to
onions on hamburgers), plus 10 percent
plant-eaters.
consumers in the U.S. and in some other
meat, you have a trophic level of 2.1.
countries, where the seafood demand can
Each transition from one trophic level to
no longer be met by the now-depleted fish
In the sea, the equivalent of grass and
the next causes a loss of energy; there are
of higher trophic levels. Sardine, herring,
corn and other edible plant matter are
fewer calories in a pound of chicken than in
and similar fish are healthy, still relatively
microscopic algae known as phytoplank-
the corn that the chicken ate. This loss rate
cheap and they can be exploited such that
ton. The plant-eating marine herbivores,
is about 90 percent per trophic level, and
enough is left in waters to feed other spe-
the equivalent of deer and cows on land,
thus, the lower the trophic level that we
cies, like marine mammals and seabirds, as
are tiny zooplankton, usually less than
eat at, the more food we have. With land-
established recently by a panel of experts 1.
one-tenth of an inch, and we don’t eat
based foods, this makes a strong case for
them. They are eaten instead by small
vegetarianism. With regard to seafood, this
In fact, if we consume small fish, we can
schooling fishes such as sardines, herring,
makes a strong case for us to consume for-
have our fish and eat it too, which is more
and anchovies. We call these forage fish
age fish rather than the fish that consume
than we can say for cake.
because they serve as food for larger
the forage fish.
¹ Pikitch, E., P.D. Boersma, I.L. Boyd,
D.O. Conover, P. Cury, T. Essington,
S.S. Heppell, E.D. Houde, M. Mangel, D.
Pauly, É. Plagányi, K. Sainsbury and R.S.
Steneck. 2012. Little Fish, Big Impact:
Managing a Crucial Link in Ocean
Food Webs. Lenfest Ocean Program,
Washington, DC. 108 p.
© Brant Shenkarow
OCEANA.ORG | 13
events
TITLE
Stars Come Out for Fifth Annual SeaChange Summer Party
© Bob Hodson
© Ann Chatillon
© Nicholas Koons
O
n July 29th, approximately 400 guests
gathered at Karen and Bruce Cahill’s
stunning coastal villa in Laguna Beach for the
5th annual SeaChange Summer Party. The
event was emceed by Oceana Senior Advisor
Alexandra Cousteau and included insightful
remarks delivered by Oceana Executive Vice
President Jim Simon.
The speaking program also included remarks
from such celebrated actors and ocean
advocates as Ted Danson, Morgan Freeman,
Dennis Haysbert, Aimee Teegarden and
Sarah Shahi, in addition to live jazz performed
by Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer
Orchestra and surprise guest vocalist
Renee Olstead. Other special guests in
attendance included Jenna Ushkowitz,
Rachael Harris, Steve Howey, Ed Begley Jr.,
Beverly D’Angelo, Bella Thorne and Graham
Phillips. The evening also included a special
presentation to the first ever SeaChange
Ocean Champions, Tricia and Michael Berns
and South Coast Plaza, who were recognized
for their loyal support throughout the history
of the event.
This year’s anniversary event raised over
$1 million for the oceans, thanks in large
part to the dedication of co-chairs Eve
Kornyei Ruffatto and Oceana board
member Valarie Van Cleave, as well as
the invaluable assistance of Oceana board
member Keith Addis. Additionally, generous
support was contributed by SeaChange’s
underwriters and partners, which are listed
at seachangesummerparty.org.
14 | FALL/WINTER 2012
© Nicholas Koons
© Bob Hodson
Clockwise: Ted Danson, Oceana EVP Jim Simon, Oceana Senior Advisor Alexandra Cousteau,
Ed Begley Jr., Rachael Harris, Dennis Haysbert; Sarah Shahi and SeaChange Ocean Champions
Michael and Tricia Berns; Graham Phillips and Morgan Freeman; Jenna Ushkowitz; Oceana Senior
Advisor Alexandra Cousteau, Co-Chair Eve Kornyei Ruffatto, Karen Cahill, Co-Chair and Oceana
board member Valarie Van Cleave
GQ Gentlemen’s
Fund Ball
On Wednesday, October 24th over 250
guests gathered at the IAC building in New
York City to celebrate the 5th Anniversary
of the GQ Gentlemen’s Fund Ball, an event
that honors extraordinary men who make a
difference, and raises money for the charities
they support. Oceana was there thanks to our
friends at Nautica who, for the third year in a
row, selected Oceana as their partner charity
for the event. During the evening Oceana was
represented by two exceptional gentlemen:
Oceana board member Michael Northrop
and fellow board member and newly-minted
© Larry Busacca
Clockwise: Ted Danson, Bob Sauerberg,
Michael Strahan, Shaun White and Chris Mitchell
Gentlemen’s Fund Ambassador, Ted Danson.
Oceana congratulates GQ for five successful
years of the Gentlemen’s Fund and is deeply
appreciative of our partners at Nautica for
enabling our participation in this special event.
events
TITLE
Oceana and
Christie’s Celebrate
Yves Klein and La
Revolution Bleue
On May 3rd, Oceana collaborated with
international auction house Christie’s to
produce a screening at the famed Paris
Theatre in New York City. The evening, which
also included an after party held at the
glamorous Casa Lever restaurant, celebrated
both Oceana and the life and legacy of the
late French artist, Yves Klein, and was a
prelude to the Post War and Contemporary
evening sale on May 8th, which included
Klein’s masterpiece FC1. The piece was sold
for $32.5 million, and Oceana received $1
million from the anonymous seller.
Oceana celebrity ambassador January Jones
hosted the screening and after party, which
was co-chaired by Stephen Murphy, Brett
Gorvy and Loic Gouzer of Christie’s as well
as Oceana board members Ted Danson and
Susan Rockefeller along with her husband
David. Generous support was also provided
by the ocean advocates at La Mer.
© John Dee
© John Dee
© Patrick McMcullan
© Patrick McMcullan
Clockwise: January Jones, Oceana board member Susan Rockefeller, Loic Gouzer, and Brett Gorvy of
Christie’s; Georgina Bloomberg; Oceana EVP Jim Simon, David Rockefeller Jr.; Vanesa Dabich, Patricia
Tortolani, Sandra Main and Veronika Ullmer of La Mer.
Oceana’s Board of Directors Gathers in Cardiff
In September, Oceana’s board of directors,
executive committee and special guests
gathered in Cardiff for the Oceana fall board
meeting. The gathering was graciously
hosted by Oceana board member and
Chair of the Waterloo Foundation, Heather
Stevens. Following two days of discussion
concerning Oceana’s campaign progress
thus far and the strategy for 2013 and
beyond, the group gathered for an
intimate party at the National Museum of
Wales, where they enjoyed cocktails and
conversation with special guest Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall, celebrity chef,
author, television personality and activist.
Left to right: Oceana CEO
Andy Sharpless, Oceana
board president Keith Addis,
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall,
Oceana board chair Kristian
Parker and Oceana board
vice chair Jim Sandler; Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall, board
member Sam Waterston, board
member Heather Stevens, Andy
Sharpless and board member
Dr. Daniel Pauly.
OCEANA.ORG | 15
TITLE
Make every day
EARTH DAY
Oceana is a member of EarthShare, a federation that represents
the nation’s most respected environmental and conservation charities in
hundreds of workplace giving campaigns across the country.
EarthShare’s payroll contribution program allows donors to direct their contributions to Oceana; to any
combination of EarthShare’s members; or to all of them through one general gift to EarthShare! To find out more
about how you and your workplace can support Oceana through an EarthShare campaign, please email
info@oceana.org or visit EarthShare’s website at earthshare.org.
1% for the Planet is a growing global
movement of over 1,400 member companies
– small and large – in 38 countries that
donate at least 1% of sales to environmental
organizations. As a 1% non-profit partner,
Oceana may accept donations from
members of the 1% network – a network
growing every day. Over 2,100 non-profits
worldwide are included in the 1% program,
and over
$50 million has been funneled toward
nonprofit partners to date.
16 | FALL/WINTER 2012
Supporter Spotlight
A remora attaches itself to Tricia Berns on a dive in Belize.
Tricia and Michael Berns
© Ann Chatillon
Long before Tricia and Michael Berns got involved with Oceana, they were avid
divers and ocean conservationists.
Twenty years ago, the couple went on a
scuba diving excursion near the island of
Rangiroa in Tahiti. During one dive they
counted an astounding 132 gray reef
sharks visible at one time, ranging from
four to seven feet in length.
in 2008, they were ready to lend their
support on the spot.
Just over a decade later, they returned
to the same dive site and did exactly the
same drift dive. This time they saw no
more than 12 or 15 gray reef sharks
in a single dive, and their sizes had shrunk
to just 2 to 3 feet in length.
They have been underwriters of the
event every year since, and at this year’s
SeaChange, the Berns were honored as
Ocean Champions.
Later that same night they saw a
commercial longline vessel – most
likely one cause of the declining shark
population.
“Since a great many of our vacations
are actually live-aboard dive boat trips,
we could tell you many other similar sad
stories – listening to the sound of pristine
reefs being dynamited, maneuvering our
boat around drift nets, seeing abandoned
fish traps filled with dead fish, and seeing
shark fins hanging from the lines of fishing
boats,” Michael Berns said.
So when they learned about Oceana’s first
SeaChange benefit in Southern California
“We had to be the easiest people to
recruit in the history of Oceana,” said
Tricia Berns.
“We were delighted and very honored to
be named Ocean Champions,” Tricia said.
We believe that
the bounty of the
ocean belongs
not only to our
generation but for
all generations in
the future.
“We are very excited by the great progress
being made by Oceana to protect the
world’s oceans, and we want to be a part
of it forever.”
Michael took up underwater photography
nearly 30 years ago and has since logged
more than a thousand dives around
the world and has captured many more
undersea photos of sea animals and
habitat. Tricia learned to scuba dive more
than 20 years ago and has been Michael’s
constant guide and companion ever since.
The couple particularly loves diving in the
Galapagos Islands, where they explain,
“it’s possible to dive with sea lions on the
first dive, a large school of hammerhead
sharks on the second, and have a 40-foot
whale shark swim five feet away from you
on the third.”
In addition to their passion for diving, the
Berns have become dedicated advocates
for protecting the world’s wild seafood.
“For us, the most important conservation
issue is the safeguarding of the world’s
fisheries,” Michael said. “We believe that
the bounty of the ocean belongs not only
to our generation but for all generations in
the future.”
OCEANA.ORG | 17
chef’s corner
TITLE
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has become one of
Britain’s most celebrated food personalities through
his River Cottage TV series and books, which reflect
his commitment to seasonal, sustainable food.
He is also a formidable advocate for
sustainable fishing policy. In 2011, when
Hugh learned that half the fish caught
in the North Sea are thrown back into
the sea, dead, he launched a campaign
known as “Hugh’s Fish Fight” to
educate the public about the massive
problem of bycatch in the EU, and to
effect policy change.
More than 700, 000 people have signed
the fish fight petition, and the campaign
pressure led to a debate about discards
in the Houses of Parliament. In July,
as a result of pressure from Hugh and
others, including Oceana, the European
Commission published their proposals for
a new Common Fisheries Policy, including
recommendations for a discard ban.
“Fish are among the most precious of
foods. Their numbers are not inexhaustible
and we cannot afford to squander them
idly,” said Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Quick-fried Mackerel Fillets with Garlic and Bay
Fresh mackerel, 1 per person
Olive oil
A few garlic cloves, thickly sliced
A few bay leaves, coarsely torn
½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cut the fillets from either side of the
mackerel. Season them with a little salt
and pepper.
Put a large frying pan over medium heat
and add a thin film of olive oil. When
the oil is fairly hot, scatter in the garlic
and bay leaves, then lay the mackerel
fillets over them, skin side down. You’re
looking for a gentle sizzle rather than a
fierce flash-fry. As it cooks, the mackerel
flesh will change from translucent pink
to opaque white. When the fillets are
almost completely white, turn them over
for just a minute to finish cooking.
The whole process won’t take longer
than 5 minutes. Let the garlic and
bay just sizzle in the oil under and
next to the fish, flavoring it gently.
Lift the mackerel fillets from the pan,
leaving the bay and garlic behind
(they’re probably just starting to burn
a bit). Give the fillets a squeeze of
lemon juice and serve right away,
with salad (a sliced tomato salad is
delicious with mackerel) and either
new potatoes or buttered bread.
Reprinted with permission from The River Cottage Fish Book
18 | FALL/WINTER 2012
TITLE
parting shot
Actress and Oceana supporter
Kate Walsh traveled to Belize to
spread the word about the threat
of offshore drilling facing the
Belize Barrier Reef, the world’s
second largest barrier reef. Walsh
visited some of Belize’s most
well-known marine attractions,
including the famous Blue Hole,
a scuba diving mecca, which is
threatened by potential drilling.
OCEANA.ORG | 19
© Tony Rath
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©
OCEANA
| Credit
Santa
Barbara
Island © Tim Calver
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You can help Oceana fight to restore our oceans with your financial contribution. Call us today at 1.877.7.OCEANA, go to our
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